The Legacy of Kun'nuk'kles
by Omega Cyborg Cat
Summary: Kun'nuk'kles. Echidna Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers. It now falls to his power to Bind the Chaos Spirits before they destroy Mobius... Read "The Certainty of Omega" first. Completed, but feel free to review.
1. The First of Seven

_**I must warn you… this is not a nice story.**_

_I know._

_**Hmm. This is a story of Chaos, of Blood and of Bone. Most stories are, at the end. The Old stories, in any case. This is a story of ancient magic, long forgotten, and of self-sacrifice. But mostly, this is a story about those who think of the future. Those who think of the future, and are not afraid to face it.**_

_Then, let the story begin._

_Yes, let the story begin._

_**Very well…**_

The grayness coalesced into a scene, outside of a hut. In front of the hut, there was someone fiddling with a bag. It was an echidna, a red echidna. It had a white symbol on its chest, and vivid green eyes. On its hands, its knuckles protruded from the bone, although they were covered with white gloves. The echidna stood up, and took a staff that had been leaning against the wall of the hut. The staff was made of some indistinguishable type of wood, with some sort of large crystal set in the top. This was the wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers, Kun'nuk'kles. Kun'nuk'kles sighed. "Minsha!" he called to the hut.

Out of the hut came an orange echidna, carrying a baby. She was wearing a colorfully patterned dress and a circlet with a small sapphire set in it, complementing her blue eyes. "Yes, my husband?" she replied.

"There is a great disturbance on Mobius. I have had a vision. I must go, to confront the Chaos Spirits, lest they destroy this world," he said, his face set grimly.

"Oh, no… Kun'nuk'kles, can you not let another…"

He shook his head. "This requires the Old Bindings, the ones concerning gemstones and spirits. None of the other wizards has my affinity for the stones. I am sorry. Take care of little Shik'kai for me… it is unlikely that I will return to you alive…"

And with that, the echidna turned his back on his wife, slung the bag over his shoulder, and started walking. It was hard, leaving everything behind, especially his infant son. But, it was as he had said. This would require an affinity for gemstones, for Order, for patterns, for structures. He was the only choice in this matter.

_Why do we hear his thoughts, feel his emotions?_

**_Because the story dictates that we know exactly what he is feeling at all times, and why._**

_I… see…_

_It's really not as bad as it seems. After all, he has been dead for millennia._

Kun'nuk'kles looked directly at the watchers. "I know you're there, and I know you know how this is going to turn out," he said firmly, still walking. "But I would rather appreciate it if you wouldn't comment on my life like that."

_Wait… he can hear us?_

_**Of course he can. He is the most powerful wizard in the whole of Mobius. There is very little that he cannot perceive.**_

"Even as he said. I know you are there, and I can hear you, but I cannot seem to get a fix on your identity. I think it would be better if it remained that way. As little interference as possible from the future is integral to my mission…"

And with that, he set his eyes back on the path in front of him. Suddenly, there was a large-sounding growl to his left. Kun'nuk'kles sighed, and put the sack down. It flopped, as if empty. In fact, it WAS empty. It was to carry the things he was going to collect…

He brandished his staff in front of him, while whatever it was came closer. From out of the brush and trees, there came a huge, green reptile. From its skin, a green mist was rising. It focused on Kun'nuk'kles, and roared again. Kun'nuk'kles steeled himself, and yelled, "Ak'kun leoht! Sekk'tu ne-par! Reveal thy name! Reveal thy nature!"

The crystal on his staff began to glow, and a ray of light from it lanced out and struck the creature. The reptilian thing roared in pain, and beat its tail against the ground. And then, it spoke, haltingly, as if every word were being forcefully ripped from its mouth. "_I… am… Chaos Green… I am… Strength!_" it cried, and charged Kun'nuk'kles.

Kun'nuk'kles stood his ground, but at the last possible instant, leapt aside, into a tree. He clung there, and scrambled into the foliage. The reptile thing looked around, confused. It flicked its tongue out, tasting the air, and sniffed. Kun'nuk'kles crawled through the canopy, directly over the thing. It didn't look up. It seemed the Chaos Spirit was somewhat governed by its host. The reptile turned its back, and Kun'nuk'kles took the opportunity. He dropped down onto the thing's back, just below the neck. It roared in indignation and started shaking and bucking, trying to shake him off. But he had a firm grip on the scales, and with only one hand. He lifted his other hand, clutching his staff, and pointed to crystal end at the creature's neck. "Ak'kun leoht! Pyrosis pi'chin! Fireball!" he cried.

From the tip of his staff emerged 3 fireballs, each the size of a cantaloupe. They struck the creature in the back of the neck, blasting through scales, skin, and muscle, severing the spinal column. The creature suddenly jerked stiff, and fell over with an earthshaking thump. It twitched once, and was still. Kun'nuk'kles pulled his leg clear from under the corpse of the beast, and stood up. He looked at it, smiled, and walked about ten paces away from it. Then, he whirled to face the thing, his staff raised. "Ak'kun leoht! Ned-le ky'lyu! Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye! Imprison!" he shouted.

The green mist that had been rising from the skin of the creature shuddered, and began rising more rapidly. As it came clear of the beast, it re-formed into some sort of hominid shape. It reached out for Kun'nuk'kles… "Imprison!" he roared again.

The spirit shuddered, and began twisting and curling in on itself as if it were caught in a vortex. It started to flow closer to the ground, condensing into some sort of shape there. "_You now Imprison Chaos Green, but be warned!_" it screamed as it continued to flow. "_You are accursed from this day forward! None will remember the sacrifices you made, and your creations will be used for destruction! When the Lore is forgotten, and Greed prevails, the Waters themselves will throw themselves against your tribe and people! So it is said, so shall it be!_"

And then, the motion stopped. A small cloud of dust still obscured what had been made. But when it cleared, it was clear what had been done. There, on the ground, was a large green gem, about 3 inches tall and wide, and vibrant as the rainforest. Kun'nuk'kles smiled. The spell had worked perfectly, imposing the crystalline structure of beryl on the Chaos Spirit… so it had become a very large emerald. Kun'nuk'kles picked it up. "What do you know," he muttered to himself, still smiling. "An emerald made from Chaos… a Chaos Emerald…"

Kun'nuk'kles picked up his sack, and dropped the Emerald in. It was glowing ever so slightly in the rainforest shadows. But it contained a power both potent and deadly, if it were to be used that way. The Ultimate power of Chaos, as he had taught his classes, was Life. The power to give Life, and to take it away. He slung the sack over his shoulder, and started walking again. This had been a fortuitous encounter. Doubtless the other Chaos Spirits would be much harder to find. For one thing, he knew for a FACT that Chaos Red possessed some sort of magma-dwelling creature in the heart of a volcano. But regardless, his Vision had been very clear. Unless all 7 Chaos Spirits were Imprisoned, Mobius would fly apart from the stress of unfettered Chaos.

It would be folly to attempt the same trick he had used another time. Doubtless the other Chaos Spirits were already aware of what he was trying to do, and had succeeded in doing with Chaos Green.

_So, were you?_

_Pretty much, yeah._

Kun'nuk'kles ignored the further ramblings of the watchers. It would imperil his timeline if he knew too much about things he had no business knowing, or couldn't possibly know. He looked up at the sky. The sun was sinking beyond the trees. He needed to find a place to spend the night. So, he began to climb a tree. There, in the branches, he made a makeshift nest from branches, leaves, and bits of sticks. And then, he curled up, and went to sleep.

_So, how much did the Chaos Spirits suspect at that point?_

_Well, as I remember it, we weren't too worried, but exceedingly suspicious of this spell caster who could trap a Chaos Spirit in a gemstone._

_That was probably a mistake, not being worried._

_Oh, I got really worried later. After I was the last Chaos Spirit left unbound, in fact._

_Wait… you don't think he can hear us in his sleep, do you?_

_**Extremely unlikely. Even a wizard has to rest his mind when he sleeps, you know.**_

_If you say so…_


	2. Chaos Blue and the Chaos Oath

The next morning, Kun'nuk'kles awoke. He blinked, and then sighed. "You're still here, aren't you?"

_Um… yes. I'm afraid so._

"And you know exactly what's going to happen to me, right?"

_Not me. Him._

"Who?"

_**Me.**_

"Oh. I don't suppose you're going to tell me where the next Chaos Spirit is, are you?"

_**No. But I will tell you that it is Chaos Blue, the Power of Speed.**_

"Well, that's more than I knew before…"

_Whatever happened to the preservation of knowledge?_

"That was when I had a fair idea of where exactly I was going. Now I haven't got a clue."

_**Hmm… a conundrum faces me. Should I tell him, and risk altering my creation, or… wait a moment, now I remember! This is how it happened originally! So… it would in fact be altering the timeline if I do not. All right, Kun'nuk'kles, you're near Chaos Blue right at this moment. It's currently in the body of a sea serpent. The coast you seek is to the east.**_

"Thank you…"

_**Oh, and one more thing… be prepared for consequences that should not happen.**_

"I'll try."

Kun'nuk'kles hoisted his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his staff, and jumped out of the tree. The membrane between his arms and legs unfolded, and he began to glide for a short distance. He then tucked his arms in and fell about 4 feet, landing on his feet.

_Impressive._

Kun'nuk'kles could not help but smile. Apparently one of the Watchers was appreciative of his acrobatics. But the smile faded as he turned to the east, toward the seacoast. He walked on and on, but then, he noticed something. He was feeling… stronger than before. He remembered the words of the Chaos Spirit he had imprisoned as the Emerald… '_I am Chaos Green. I am Strength._' Could it be that he was… somehow absorbing the Spirit's represented trait? That shouldn't be possible. Maybe it was a side effect of the magic he had used to imprison it. It had never been tested before, and the effects could not possibly be predicted accurately.

Then, he took a look around. The vegetation was thinning, and the soil was becoming sandy. And, he could smell a slightly saline scent on the breeze. That meant he was close to the shore. But… there was still something strange, and not the feeling of strength. It was the vegetation. It was dying, wilting even as he watched. Soon, there were only dead stalks and withered leaves where there had once been healthy plant life. Something was terribly, terribly wrong. And then, he heard it: a wailing, triumphant cry, distorted by the surf. There was nothing between himself and the sea now but 120 yards of sandy soil. He dropped the bag, gripped his staff, and resolutely advanced upon the sea.

He stood on the edge of the sea, water lapping at his unshod feet. Kun'nuk'kles sighed. "Please… forgive me," he muttered, as he stuck his staff in the surf, taking a step back. "Ak'kun leoht! To'rikku su-shi-ki fel'loth! Chaos Spirit, I summon thee! Come to my presence, and meet thy doom!" shouted Kun'nuk'kles.

The crystal situated on top of the staff flashed, and a beam of light leapt into the sea, disappearing after an instant. Then, the surf swelled. A head emerged from the swell, scaled and reptilian. A long, serpentine neck and shoulders soon followed it. Kun'nuk'kles took up his staff and backed away as more and more of the creature emerged from the deep. Soon, the entire dragon had emerged, its skin a violent blue, with some sort of blue haze hovering just above the skin. It turned its head, saying, "_Who calls Chaos Blue? Show yourself!_"

Kun'nuk'kles stepped forward. "I do," he answered.

The dragon's head swung, and its huge eye focused upon him. "_YOU? You would barely make an appetizer… but, very well… as is thy right, you may challenge me._"

"Very well. I, Kun'nuk'kles, challenge thee to a duel, so that thy form and substance may be spared, whilst thy spirit become imprisoned in the structure of crystal!"

"_Accepted. Begin!_" shouted the dragon, and lunged forward to snap the echidna in two with its jaws.

Kun'nuk'kles leapt back, shouting, "Ak'kun leoht! Pyrosis co'chin! Flame wave!"

From the staff came a flash of light, and a wall of fire appeared before the dragon. The wall moved forward, engulfing it. The dragon simply ignored it and lunged again for Kun'nuk'kles. Once more, Kun'nuk'kles leapt aside. "Ak'kun leoht! Ectri'it li-ki'shi! Thunder pillar!"

From the staff came a crackling noise, and with a flash of light, three bolts of lightning, tightly entwined, lanced toward the dragon with a terrible noise, rending the very air itself. The dragon was struck by this, and screamed as the electricity coursed through its body. But it did not die. The blue haze about its skin grew more intense, and the dragon lunged for Kun'nuk'kles again, this time much, much faster. There was no time to escape. Kun'nuk'kles flailed hopelessly at the coming jaws… and the dragon was flung aside by the force of his blow. The dragon shook its head as it got up. "_What in the… you! You have the Power of Chaos Green! Where is Chaos Green?_"

"He has been bound within the Chaos Emerald," Kun'nuk'kles answered, quickly regaining composure. "Just as you shall be in moments!"

"_No… he who fights and runs away shall live to fight another day… you will not summon me again! I will not come!_" the dragon screamed, and dived for the ocean.

As soon as he had said this, Kun'nuk'kles started another spell. "Ak'kun leoht!" he snapped. "Ectri'it to-ki'shi! Thunder rain!"

From the staff, there was a flash of light. A beam of light shot up towards the clouds, and hundreds of small bolts of lightning flashed inside of them. Then, the bolts came down, each headed straight for the dragon. All of this took place within an instant. The dragon looked up, and screamed once more. Every single bolt hit. The rain of lightning lasted for perhaps 20 seconds, but left on the beach a charred and smoking corpse. "May I be forgiven, for what I now do…" Kun'nuk'kles muttered, sticking his staff in the sand.

"Ak'kun leoht. Ned-le ky'lyu. Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye. Imprison!"

The blue haze that had been over the dragon intensified and rose. It started swirling into one spot, being sucked into it. For a moment, the swirling light/haze looked like a face, glaring accusingly at him. And then, it was done. But then, there was an echo, as if a voice had spoken a hundred years ago and was only now being heard. "_You win, echidna wizard. But know this; the time is drawing near; the curse of Chaos is almost upon you. May Fate have mercy on your soul, and let you be forgotten!_"

Then, the air cleared. On the beach, being pulled by the ebb and flow of water was a brilliant blue gemstone, the exact same shape and size as the green. He went over to it and picked it up. "May Fate have mercy on me… let me be forgotten…" Kun'nuk'kles murmured, as he put it in the sack with the other Chaos Emerald.

_Hey…I thought that the Chaos Spirits were aware that Kun'nuk'kles had been doing this?_

_Most of us were. Chaos Blue was a little slow on the uptake, though._

_Ah._

Kun'nuk'kles sighed. Then, he counted on his fingers. According to this pattern… next would be… Chaos Purple… or Chaos White.

_**White. Definitely White.**_

That settled it, then. Chaos White was next on his list. Where would Chaos White be? In the sky, perhaps? How could he get to the sky to confront it? Perhaps… the Sanctuary… it was said that it could fly, if there was great need. What greater need than the entire fate of Mobius? And, if he hurried, he could get there by sundown…

Kun'nuk'kles hoisted the sack of gems over his shoulder, fetched his staff, and started walking to the north, along the coastline. It was quite a pleasant walk, with the salt breeze from the sea… but something was missing. The cry of birds… there were no birds. Kun'nuk'kles looked to the sky. Nothing wheeled overhead. In the trees, to his left, there were no birds, not even the sound of birds. And the trees were dying, still. It had slowed, somewhat, but it was still happening. If he could not succeed in this enterprise, the Island of the Gods' Messengers would surely be the first to die. And then, the rest of Mobius would soon follow. The Chaos Spirits would be alone, on a dead planet, for all of eternity.

He shivered at the thought. Not even the Chaos Spirits deserved that kind of punishment… in fact, Chaos Blue had been rather cordial, in an aristocratic sort of way. Some of the Chaos Spirits might even be nice, if they were given the chance… but there wasn't time for that. The signs had appeared too late to do anything about this destruction, aside from the Binding. Every other choice had been exhausted. No other way could undo the damage that had been done.

And then, he was there. The ancient ruins of the Sanctuary stood before him. Even as he looked at the colored tiles leading to the central chamber, he was thinking. Why had the Ancients left all this behind? What had been the purpose of the 8 pedestals, ahead of him? And what was with the golden hedgehog that was on fire in front of a god? Some of it had to do with some prophecy, of a blue hedgehog becoming as the sun, and then as the rainbow, but that had made no sense, even as a small child. And then, there was the Chaos Oath… written at the end of the hall, like an afterthought to the pedestals.

Roughly translated, it said, "The Chaos, Seven in number, Serve, for the Heart of Chaos is Power. To Control the Power, the Chaos must be United."

This made even less sense than the prophecy of the rainbow hedgehog who was blue and gold at the same time. But the Chaos Oath seemed important, somehow. Really important. Well, anyway, dusk was quickly approaching, ad it didn't seem like a good time to attempt to start this place aloft. He jumped up onto the central pillar. There was a sort of indentation, and it seemed like a good place to curl up for the night. He set the bag and his staff on a different pillar, yawned, and was asleep in moments.

_Hmm. At this rate, he should be done collecting the Chaos Spirits within the week._

_**Should be. Won't, though.**_

_Intriguing…_


	3. Unseen Prophecy

The next day, Kun'nuk'kles awoke to the sound of the wind whistling through the tunnels that had led him to this place. It carried the stench of decaying vegetation… he still had not stopped the creeping death that was upon the island. Hopefully, it would stop after this next Binding. And perhaps the next would start a reversal. But that was unlikely. He sighed. It was time to get on with it. He stood on the pillar, and jumped over to the pillar with his things on it. Unfortunately, this caused one of the Chaos Emeralds to go flying out of the bag and onto the floor. Kun'nuk'kles cursed. What would happen if the Chaos Emerald BROKE? There would surely be hell to pay… but it simply hit with a clink, and bounced several times before rolling to a halt. Kun'nuk'kles jumped down to it after picking up the sack and his staff. He prodded it with the end of his staff. It moved a bit, but nothing else. He then picked it up and examined it. It wasn't scratched: not even scuffed. Odd, that. But even odder was the fact that the FLOOR had been dented by the impact of the Emerald. It was made of solid granite, as far as he could tell.

An ordinary gemstone would have shattered. But this wasn't an ordinary gemstone; this was Chaos, forced into a fixed shape. More unforeseen properties… how many more properties could a single gem have? Hundreds, actually… he put it back in the sack. No use worrying about that right then. But something else was there, something neither the watchers nor Kun'nuk'kles noticed. Another prophecy, writ tiny where the Emerald had struck. It seemed to be an afterthought to the rest of the writing on the walls, in fact. "Beware," it read. "Beware the last Chaos. Beware the 8th Chaos, created last, and our undoing. Beware of the last Chaos, hidden from the others. Beware the last color, the absence of light. Beware Chaos Black."


	4. With a Willing Spirit

Kun'nuk'kles climbed down into a hole, where the matter transmitter was hidden. There it was, before him! It stood 4 feet tall and consisted of a golden stand, holding a deeply blue orb, about 2 feet in diameter. It was the technology of the Ancients, indeed. None were left who knew how it worked, it just did. But it was fairly useless in any case. It only went to one location, and no one knew how to orient it to transmit elsewhere. The only people who used it were students and archaeologists. Currently, none of them were anywhere near there. He climbed up onto the orb, and felt himself being moved, piece-by-piece, to another location.

When his eyes were back in his head, he saw that he was on top of the Sanctuary, almost in the clouds. This was reassuring to Kun'nuk'kles. Perhaps he would not have to make the Sanctuary fly, after all. Maybe a Chaos Summons would work from here. He set the staff upright in a crack in the stone, and started chanting. "Ak'kun leoht! To'rikku su-shi-ki fel'lish! Chaos Spirit, I summon thee! Come to my presence, and meet thy doom!"

The words were caught by the wind and spun into the endless sky, as was the beam of light that pulsed from the staff. All there was to do now was to wait. He didn't have to wait long. The wind carried the sound of huge wing beats toward him from miles away. He spotted the speck on the horizon, white as the clouds, but rapidly approaching. Soon, he could make out exactly what it was. It was a huge bird, entirely white. It swooped in, and started to land. Its wings created a great down-draft, so that Kun'nuk'kles was forced to hold on to his staff, wedged in the rock, to keep from being blown away. The sack that held the Chaos Emeralds didn't so much as flutter in this intense wind, he noticed.

The great bird's talons crushed rock and ground stone as it gripped the Sanctuary's turrets for a perch. It looked at Kun'nuk'kles, opened its beak, and squawked, "_Chaos White has answered your call, wizard of the Echidna race. Would you Imprison me, also, in a cage of Order and stone?_"

"I would," Kun'nuk'kles replied, pulling his staff from the stones. "I am Kun'nuk'kles, and I must seal you in the Emerald, else Mobius shall fall asunder to the unfettered Chaos, and the Chaos Spirits would be all that lived on this barren planet."

Chaos White's eyes went wide. "_What? Mobius is dying? I see… our very presence on this planet is tearing the life from the land… in that case…_"

The great bird shuddered, and fell to the Sanctuary's floor. A white mist arose from the bird's body, and swirled toward Kun'nuk'kles, who was extremely surprised to say the least. "_Do your Binding, Wizard,_" the Chaos Spirit said. "_But hear this, also. There will come a time when all that you worked for, and even that which your creations strive for, will be lost. When that time comes, do not fear, but neither should you hesitate. For the Final will not stay bound here forever._"

Kun'nuk'kles nodded, and started chanting. "Ak'kun leoht. Ned-le ky'lyu. Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye. Imprison!"

The Spirit's form nodded, and started spiraling into one spot on the ground. And then, there was a white Emerald. "Thank you…" Kun'nuk'kles whispered to it as he put it in the sack with the other two.


	5. Problems with Fanatics

Then he straightened up. On the horizon, a pillar of smoke was rising. Surely more Chaos at work… he tied the bag to his neck and spread his arms as he leapt off of the Sanctuary's roof. The membrane at his sides spread with his arms, and allowed him to glide, slowly sinking, over the canopy. The pillar of smoke came closer and closer… but as he got nearer, he saw that it was not a Chaos Spirit responsible for this. It was a raging fire, in an Echidna village.

Cursing, Kun'nuk'kles landed at the edge of the village. This place was too far from the rivers for them to put this fire out in time. A fire in a temple, of all places… and the townsfolk were watching it burn, not so much as lifting a finger! Well, he'd fix this mess, even if they weren't going to even try. Raising his staff, he cried, "Ak'kun leoht! Hydraquis sol'li-kinni! Sacred Pillar of Water!"

With that, a pillar of water rose from the ground, encompassing the fire. Steam rose from it, and it vanished. The temple was mostly intact, but charred. The Echidna townsfolk, as one being, gasped, and turned to Kun'nuk'kles. Kun'nuk'kles took a step back. This was not the reaction he had expected. Their faces were contorted in anger, and one of the villagers cried out, "What have you done?"

"What have I…? I just saved the temple of the Tri-fold Spirit from burning to the ground, that's what!" he snapped.

"Fool!" another voice from the crowd shouted. "The Tri-fold Spirit has abandoned us! Have you not seen the death? The only way to save us is to worship the Chaos Spirits, destroying this place!"

The crowd parted to let one tall, but rather ugly, echidna through. This echidna glared at Kun'nuk'kles. "Who are you, to stop our ceremony of ultimate change?"

"I am Kun'nuk'kles, Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers. Who are you, to defy the Tri-fold Spirit?"

"I am the Elder of this village. You know, we had a wizard here, too. But when we turned to him to stop the death, he couldn't. None of his magic worked. None of it. Not even the fireball he tried to use to save his own hide," the Elder said as his eyes gleamed. "The rest of the villages around here have had the same results. You are the first to show even a twinkling of magic. But we won't let this offense go unchallenged… Seize him!"

Two Echidna warriors grabbed Kun'nuk'kles by the arms from behind, and in his surprise, he dropped his staff. He struggled, but apparently, the Power of Chaos Green was no good in this case. Another warrior grabbed the sack from his back, and picked up his staff. The warrior hefted the bag and shook it. It made a clinking noise, from the Emeralds inside. "No! Don't touch those!" Kun'nuk'kles shouted, desperately.

The warrior dumped the three Chaos Emeralds on the ground, where they pulsed with power untold. "What is this? Treasure you have plundered, no doubt, from hard-working Echidna villagers!" the Elder shouted triumphantly.

"No… those are not plunder… those are the Chaos Emeralds!" Kun'nuk'kles explained, futilely struggling with the vise-like grips on his arms.

The Elder paused. "Chaos Emeralds? I have never heard of such a thing. Where did they come from?"

"They are the Chaos Spirits you adore so much, Imprisoned within a cage of beryl!" Kun'nuk'kles snapped, and at once, he knew that this was not a good answer.

"The… Chaos Spirits? How could such as they be Imprisoned? You lie!" the Elder shouted. "To the condemned cell with him! And keep his staff away from him!"

The warriors nodded, and started to drag him away. They tossed him roughly into a prison cell, made of stone, with bars of burnished copper. As they slammed the door on him, he sat, and stared into space. This was it. He had failed. Was this the fate that the Watchers had come to see? Mobius would be destroyed, all for the sake of a single village's fanaticism.

_**No.**_

Kun'nuk'kles looked up, in surprise. "What?"

_**I said, No. This is not the fate we have come to watch. Have hope. Don't give up.**_

"Easy for you to say…" he muttered.


	6. Not Deus Ex Machina

"Psst!" came a voice from the door.

Kun'nuk'kles looked up. The speaker was a small echidna child. "Yes?" he said wearily.

"Awe you weawwy the Wizawd fwom the Iswand of the Gods' Messengews?" the child asked, her thumb in her mouth.

Kun'nuk'kles nodded. "That I am. What do you want?"

The child took her thumb from her mouth. "Grandpa used to say that the Wizards would come to save us. But now, he's sick. Can you help?"

He looked at the child, and sighed. "I wish I could. But I'm stuck in here, without my staff to help me."

"Oh, is that all you need? I got that," the child said, holding the staff up to the light.

Kun'nuk'kles stared. "How did you get that?" he asked.

"I asked the guards if I could have it, 'cause it's pretty. But you can have it, if you can save Grandpa."

"I can't promise that I'll succeed… but I promise that I'll try."

"That's good enough," the child said, and handed the staff, through the bars, to Kun'nuk'kles.

As he took the staff, he felt a warmth flow through his fingers, as if a good friend had come back after he thought they'd been lost. He smiled, and looked at the child. "Stand back," he warned, and pointed the crystal on the top at the bars. "Ak'kun leoht. Cupourri'mi ecli'aku toth'thosh. Copper, bend to my will. Contortion!"

The bars groaned as a shaft of light from the staff struck each of them. They tore themselves out of the stones of the prison, twisting into odd and disturbing shapes. Kun'nuk'kles stepped out, over the bars, looking at the child. "Thank you. Now, take me to your Grandpa."

The child, awed, nodded, and started to run. Kun'nuk'kles followed her, running after. They weaved between houses, evading other villagers when they saw them. Finally, they came to an isolated house, smaller than the rest, on the outskirts of the village. The girl opened the door, and walked in. Kun'nuk'kles followed her. In the house, there was a room with a bed in it. On the bed, there was an old, dying echidna. But his face, though contorted in pain, was proud. Next to the bed, kneeling in prayer was another echidna, female. She looked up when the girl entered, and then at Kun'nuk'kles. "Jakki, who have you brought here? Not another doctor, I hope…" she said.

Kun'nuk'kles touched the white symbol on his chest in a gesture of respect. "I am honored to be in your house, beautiful lady. I am Kun'nuk'kles, Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers."

The female's eyes went wide, and looked at the girl. "Jakki… did you lie to this Wizard to get him to come?"

"No, mama!" the girl, Jakki, squeaked. "I didn't lie to him!"

"I came here because your little girl here let me out of the condemned cell of the village prison," Kun'nuk'kles explained.

"What were you doing in the condemned cell?" the echidna asked, her eyes suddenly fearful.

"I put out the fire that was engulfing the Temple with my magic, and insulted the Elder."

The Echidna's face went hard. "That was not the Elder. That was a usurper. Well, never mind that… my father is dying, if you've really come to help."

Kun'nuk'kles stepped forward, and looked at the old echidna in the bed. Then, he looked back at the female. "What's wrong with him?"

"Poison. Something exotic, nothing we've tried has cured him, or even helped his pain."

"Hmm. I think I can help… what's his name, and yours?"

"My name is Menshi. His is Mentaka."

Kun'nuk'kles nodded. He positioned his staff over the prone echidna's form, and began a chant. "Ak'kun leoht. Toxisci reme'dac. Mentaka, orthim'ishki. Pelgmatti. By the Authority of Light, I cleanse Mentaka of the Poison that has taken hold within his body, and in his soul. Purge!"

The light that came from the staff was not a shaft, but more of a cloud of twinkling lights. This settled on Mentaka, and soaked into his body. His face relaxed, and his breathing became regular. "He… should be… all right… in a few hours…" Kun'nuk'kles muttered, putting his staff to the ground and leaning on it for support. "And… he should… wake up… a few minutes… after that…"

And then, Kun'nuk'kles collapsed on the floor.

_He'll be all right, won't he?_

_**Of course he will. There's no doubt about it.**_

_We're not going to watch this next bit, are we?_

**_No, this part is boring… let's skip ahead to where he wakes up…_**


	7. Serious Use of the Word Urrgh

When Kun'nuk'kles woke, he was still on the floor. But there was a blanket over him, and his staff was leaning against the wall. He sat up, and tried to remember why he was there. Oh, yes… the healing spell. That had taken a lot out of him. Much more than the Chaos Bindings had. His eyes went wide, and he scrambled to his feet. The Chaos Emeralds! They were still in the hands of that… whoever it was!

Kun'nuk'kles ran out of the house, eyes wildly searching, when a hand from within the house dragged him back in. "What do you think you're doing?" Menshi demanded.

"The Chaos Emeralds… they're still in the hands of… the one who had me thrown in the condemned cell!" Kun'nuk'kles explained.

"The what?"

"The Chaos Emeralds. They're three of the Chaos Spirits, Imprisoned in a cage of beryl."

Her eyes widened in horror. "That's… he cannot be allowed to have that kind of power! I'll fetch father… he'll know what to do!" she exclaimed, and ran off.

When she came back, Mentaka was with her. "What is all this talk of Chaos Spirits and Emeralds I hear from my daughter, Wizard?" he asked, in a raspy voice.

Kun'nuk'kles explained again, and Mentaka's face went hard. "I see… well, this usurper… what is his name, anyway?"

"Uroth," Menshi answered.

"Uroth, is it? Well, he cannot be allowed to continue with this charade. I will confront him."

"Are you sure that's wise, Mentaka? He controls the warriors and villagers with his voice alone. He would surely have you killed."

Mentaka nodded. "True. That is why you're coming with me."

"Me? Oh, all right…"

"Good. Let's go."

And with that, Mentaka walked out the door at a measured pace, and Kun'nuk'kles followed him, waiting for trouble. Amazingly, the trouble didn't come until they came back to the temple. They were about to light it again. "Now, I say NAY!" Mentaka shouted.

The entire crowd turned to look at him, and hushed whispers went through it when they saw. "Mentaka? How is it that you are here?" the false Elder asked, pushing his way through the crowd.

"The good wizard here purged my body of the poison that you gave to me," Mentaka answered, glaring levelly at Uroth.

The crowd gasped, looking at Uroth in much the same way as Mentaka was. Kun'nuk'kles, unnoticed, started chanting a spell. Uroth's face contorted into a sneer. "So, you figured it out, did you? Well, this time, I'll make sure the job is done right!"

Uroth swung his staff at Mentaka's head, but Mentaka did not flinch. Just before impact, Kun'nuk'kles shouted, "Shield!"

The staff bounced off of some invisible barrier with a wild sparking. Uroth's eyes went wide, and saw Kun'nuk'kles for the first time since Mentaka had shown himself. "You! How dare you!"

"How dare you? How dare you strike at an unarmed Echidna?" Kun'nuk'kles shot back.

Uroth screamed in fury, his eyes boggling. He swung his staff… and was blocked easily by Kun'nuk'kles. "Where are the Chaos Emeralds, Uroth?" he demanded.

"You'll never find those blasphemies!" Uroth growled, and swung again.

Kun'nuk'kles blocked, and then countered with a sweeping motion of his staff, knocking Uroth to the ground. As he groaned on the ground, groping for his staff, Kun'nuk'kles stepped on his arm. Uroth howled in pain, and glared at Kun'nuk'kles. "The Chaos Emeralds aren't blasphemies," Kun'nuk'kles explained calmly, while grinding his foot down on Uroth's arm. "I don't believe that any blasphemy has taken place while I've been here. But it IS sacrilegious to burn down the damn temple! Now… where are the Chaos Emeralds?"

Uroth howled in pain again, and tried to grab Kun'nuk'kles's leg with his other hand. This did not go well for him, as Kun'nuk'kles used his staff to bring his other arm to the ground so that he could step on it with his other foot. Then, he pointed his staff, crystal-first, at Uroth's head, about 2 inches from his nose. "Last chance, moron…" Kun'nuk'kles said, with just a hint of a growl in his voice. "If you won't answer, then you're going to experience ALMOST the exact same thing I did to the host of Chaos Green. Only you'll get it in the face…"

Uroth whimpered. "The altar… the Chaos Emeralds are on the altar… we were going to destroy them with purifying flames…"

"Thank you," Kun'nuk'kles said, and then kicked him in the face.

"Just out of curiosity…" Mentaka murmured in his ear. "What DID you do to the host of Chaos Green?"

"Point-blank fireballs to the back of the neck," he replied.

"Urrgh."

"Indeed."


	8. Devinations

Ignoring the now-unconscious Uroth, Kun'nuk'kles went into the temple. Sure enough, glowing gently on the altar, were the three Chaos Emeralds. At least that imposter hadn't been lying about that. Now… where the hell was the sack? Ah, on the floor next to the altar. He picked up the sack and scooped the Emeralds into it.

Time to leave, then. He began to walk out of the Temple, and out of the village. But a small hand tugged on his own. He looked down to see Jakki, the little girl that had given him his staff back. "You don't have to leave right away, do you, Mister Kun'nuk'kles?"

Kun'nuk'kles kneeled down and looked into Jakki's eyes, which were full of tears. "I'm afraid I do, little one…" he said gently. "I need to save the world."

"Can't you stay? For a little while? Please?" she pleaded.

"You really should stay. In the time since you've arrived, the creeping death has stopped. There will be a feast in your honor," came a voice behind him.

Kun'nuk'kles looked back, and saw Menshi. "All right… all right… I'll stay," he conceded. "But only for tonight. I have spent too much time here in any case."

"Excellent!" Menshi clapped her hands. "The feast will begin at sunset. Be sure to be there!"

Kun'nuk'kles looked at the sky as Menshi and Jakki left. It was not yet noon. Damn… at least six more hours, lost to this village, which had already taken a day and a half! Then, he sighed. At least he could use this time to pinpoint the location of the next Chaos Spirit… there was no apparent pattern, so his divinations would have to do. He couldn't keep relying on the Watchers for this kind of information.

_Good call._

Kun'nuk'kles looked up. "You think so?"

_Yeah. Relying on others to do your own work is the start of laziness._

He sighed again. "You are totally accurate in that statement. Have you applied it to yourself?"

_Pardon?_

"Have you applied it to yourself?"

_Hmm… you've given me something to think about…_

Kun'nuk'kles ignored this, and started walking toward one of the houses. He saw one that was apparently empty, and went in. This spell would not require his staff… just the Chaos Emeralds and some candlelight. He found some in the corner, and placed them in a circle. He sat in the circle, the staff across his lap, and placed the Chaos Emeralds in front of him. "Ak'kun leoht. Pyrosis on'lim-ni min'ort. Light," he said, and the candles lit as beams of light from the staff struck them in turn.

"Divin'kill-luthi. Chaotim rors'schalck no-lumis," he intoned, and the Emeralds glowed slightly more. "Spirits of Air, Water, and Earth, use the Fire to show me the Chaos Spirits, the ones who resonate in time to these three Emeralds before me. Show me the one that is closest to this place. Show me what I wish to see."

The room faded, and was replaced by a vision of the sky. The perspective rose, and spun to focus in on a mountaintop, where a thunderhead was spinning slowly. The perspective zoomed into the cloud, to show what was within. It was some sort of floating ball-creature, glowing slightly violet. "Show me more."

The perspective moved, and fell upon a volcano, smoldering away. It zoomed in again, to show a many-legged creature, sleeping in the magma, glowing red. "Show me more."

The Perspective moved again, zooming in to a canyon, with many spires and rock protrusions. Among the protrusions, a creature made of rocks, glowing slightly yellow, slept. "Show me more."

Then, the perspective was filled with a pair of eyes, and where the eyes were not, there was a light blue color. Cyan. "_I am Chaos Cyan. Stop thy search. It is folly, of the worst sort. You will not stop the destruction of your world simply by Binding us. The Chaos Spirits will remain, powerful, until the end of time itself. So it is said, so shall it be._"

A wind blew through the room, blowing out all of the candles. The perspective vanished, and was replaced by the room he had been in. Thin wisps of smoke rose from the candles, and Kun'nuk'kles sighed. Chaos Cyan didn't want to be found. It had sufficient defenses to frustrate his attempts at divination. Well, then, Chaos Cyan would be the last to be Bound. Kun'nuk'kles gathered up the Chaos Emeralds, and stood up with his staff. He then walked out of the door, and looked up. The sun was much closer to setting than it had been. That was one of the side effects of divinations; time passed much more quickly outside of the diviner's perspective.

Tables were even now being set up outside the temple, and food was being prepared. It was still about an hour until sunset, though. Hmm. Five minutes of divination and five hours pass on the outside. Interesting, and perhaps useful to know. No other Wizard had ever bothered to figure out the ratio. He doubted it had ever seemed important. Well, there was still an hour left… so he might as well take a nap or something…

He headed over to Mentaka's house and found the blanket he had been using. He then curled up, covered himself, his staff, and the Chaos Emeralds with the blanket, and began to sleep.


	9. You Don't Have to Like It

_You didn't want to be found?_

_Well, no._

_Why?_

_This Wizard had already defeated two other Chaos Spirits, equal in power to myself. We are all equal. I doubted that I could defeat him, so I tried to scare him off with the truth._

_So Binding the Chaos Spirits wouldn't save Mobius?_

_No. The damage was already done, although he DID manage to stop that whole creeping death thing. _

_I thought that was the threat to Mobius's well being?_

_No, that was simply a side effect of the true threat. The world itself was rejecting the Chaos, and therefore rejecting Life. If it couldn't get rid of the Life and Chaos, it would have simply stopped being._

_That sounds horrible. But Life had to remain… how did he make it so that Mobius accepted it?_

_The main problem that Mobius had with Life was that it was contributing to the overflow of Chaos. If the Chaos Spirits were bound, then no more would flow into the world. But this would not help the overflow. The Chaos already in the world would have to return to the source. _

_**Good explanation. That's almost exactly how I would have explained it.**_

_Thank you._

_So, will the creeping death reverse itself? How will Kun'nuk'kles reverse the flow of Chaos? Where is the Chaos Cyan of that time?_

_**Patience. Wait for the Story to tell these things to us.**_

_Oh, all right. But I'm not going to like waiting._

_No one said you had to like it. You just have to do it._


	10. How Heroes Fall to the Ages

Kun'nuk'kles awoke an hour later, when Menshi kicked him in the ribs. "Ow! All right, all right, I'm up!"

He sat up, and looked at her. "No need for violence, ma'am."

"The feast is about to star, but we can't without you there!"

"Ah, yes. I'd better get over there, then."

Kun'nuk'kles stood up, and went out to the feast, pretty much ignoring Menshi following him. Every single member of the village was sitting at a huge table, with flaming torches to light the feast. They were chatting and laughing and generally having a good time. "He's finally here!" Menshi shouted over the din. "We can eat!"

The noise abruptly faded into a busy silence, in which the villagers loaded up plates and started in. The noise gradually built back up to its previous level, but in the meantime, Kun'nuk'kles found a seat at the table next to the end, where Mentaka was sitting. He took a plate, and some food, and started eating. Menshi sat next to him, and Jakki next to her. And then, someone came up to Mentaka, and said, "Elder, may I present my congratulations upon your fortuitous recovery."

Mentaka glared at the supplicating Echidna. "Mar'tenn, you weasel! You're the one who slipped the poison in my food… if I had any proof, you'd be imprisoned right alongside Uroth!"

The other's eyes narrowed as he bowed stiffly and walked away. Kun'nuk'kles looked at him with mild amusement. "I didn't know you were the real Elder here…" he remarked.

Mentaka looked at Kun'nuk'kles, astonished. "You didn't? Why did you help me, then?"

"Your granddaughter asked me to. That's reason enough."

Mentaka then looked at Jakki. "Did she now…" he murmured, fire in his eyes.

"Don't be angry at her!" Kun'nuk'kles snapped. "She gave me my staff, in the prison, so that I could escape! It was the very least I could do, to heal one person at her request!"

Mentaka's eyes shifted back to Kun'nuk'kles. "I am amazed," he said. "You did not act solely out of greed, or thought of personal gain. You actually practice what you preach. Unlike those priests, who abandoned us when the Tri-fold Spirit did not answer."

"The Tri-fold Spirit did answer," Kun'nuk'kles disagreed. "It sent ME."

Mentaka laughed. "My, you lift the spirits of this old man…" he said, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "But the truth now still faces us; this village will not trust the words of the priests for a very long time…"

Kun'nuk'kles nodded. Such abandonment would take some time to heal. About an hour and a half later, the feast was winding down. "Thank you for the hospitality, and for the food, revered Elder," he told Mentaka. "But I must be going. I must Bind the other four Chaos Spirits."

"Must you? The creeping death has stopped! Our way of life is preserved."

Kun'nuk'kles shook his head. "No. If I stop now, the creeping death will return. The only way to stop the world from dying is by Binding each of the seven Chaos Spirits."

"Then… I suppose you must. But at least stay the night-"

"No. I must leave immediately," Kun'nuk'kles interrupted, and walked off into the dark woods surrounding the village.

The next Chaos Spirit was Chaos Violet… and it would be found on the peak of the highest mountain in the area. Of course, no one had bothered to try and name the mountain. It probably had a name for itself, and using another to refer to it would be rude.

Soon, the dark forests gave way to sparse and rocky hills, which became cliffs. This was as good a place as any to start up. But it would have to wait until morning. The large meal had made him tired, and the Chaos Spirit wasn't going anywhere. It was still engrossed with whatever it had been doing. Kun'nuk'kles looked up. Indeed, there was a huge thunderhead at the peak of the mountain, but it looked like no rain was falling. Just lightning, periodically striking the peak.

He shrugged, and curled up in a ball around the Chaos Emeralds and his staff, confident that such a foreboding place would keep local wildlife at bay, and slept.

_Why did he pass up their offer? Why didn't he spend the night with them? Only about an hour and a half would have been lost._

_**Because time was of the essence. If he had stayed, he might have been tempted to stay another night, and another, until he forgot his mission, and even his wife. That is how Heroes fall to the Ages.**_

_I… see…_


	11. Mysterious Explanations

The next morning, Kun'nuk'kles awoke to see the sheer cliff in front of him. It was rather depressing, really. He knew what he had to do, and exactly how to do it. First, he tied the sack with the Chaos Emeralds in it to his back, and stuck his staff in it. Then, he punched the rock face. His knuckles penetrated, and gripped. And so, he started climbing the sheer cliff, punching the rock and pulling himself up. It was actually fairly quick, at about fifty feet a minute. About ten minutes later, he came to the top of the first platform. There were at least three more platforms of equal or greater size between him and the top of this mountain.

He grunted, and started on the next. When he reached the top of that one, he flopped on the solid rock and groaned. His muscles were screaming… he was a Wizard! He wasn't built for this sort of thing. But using magic to get to the top would ruin the element of surprise… he would just have to tough it out. But what use would it be if he was exhausted when he got to the top? To hell with surprise! But… another five minutes of rest was in order.

When he felt fully rested, he pulled his staff from the sack on his back and began a chant. "Ak'kun leoht! Geolokk anthegravim! Floating platform! To the top of the highest peak!" he shouted, and a shaft of light from his staff struck the very ground he was standing upon.

There was a groaning in the rock below, and a huge cracking sound, as if the very air had been rent asunder. And then, it started to rise, slowly, but more quickly than he had been climbing. So, he waited. It got colder, but his fur kept him warm, for the most part. But it would soon be intolerable… damn. He was going to have to cast again. "Ak'kun leoht!" he chanted. "Meterok effaci summi! Personal!"

With that, his staff pulsed, and the air directly around Kun'nuk'kles's body got warmer and thicker, as he was comfortable. And then, he waited. Finally, he came face to… whatever… with the host of Chaos Violet. "_Greetings, Echidna Wizard,_" it said in a voice that wasn't quite right. "_I've been expecting you. We shall not fight immediately. We're going to have a little chat before that happens._"

Kun'nuk'kles blinked. This was not what he had been expecting. Of course, he hadn't been sure what to expect, but even so. "Very well," he ventured cautiously. "What would you like to talk about?"

"_Oh, this and that… the nature of Chaos, the reasons you have for Binding the Chaos Spirits, little things._"

"The nature of Chaos? The nature of Chaos is Order, hidden in patterns within patterns," Kun'nuk'kles answered.

"_Not what I was referring to. I was talking about the Chaos Emeralds, and what they are capable of._"

"I really have no idea about that, I'm afraid."

"_I know. I wasn't going to ask you about them, I was going to TELL you about them._"

"Then tell. I would dearly like to know."

"_Very well. Long ago, there was an ancient race of people, who managed to tap the Power of Chaos. This power was too great for them to handle as a whole, and so they split the Chaos into us, the seven Chaos Spirits. Each of us has an attribute of enhancement: Strength, Speed, Agility, and so on. I myself am Strategy. But they still were not able to use our Power. And so, they used a myriad of spells in order to Bind us to the forms of gemstones. But they still could not use our power. And so, they made an eighth Emerald, much larger than the others, to serve to control and unify our Power. And it worked. But then, something happened, and the eighth Emerald shattered, and we were freed. The ancient race died as a result, because they had lost their chief source of energy._

"_So you see, you are not the first to Bind us to Stone. However, you are doing it much more efficiently than the Ancients, using only one spell for all of us. But that alone will not save the planet from destruction. You will need the eighth as well, but I do not know how you could possibly achieve it._"

"I see… well, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it. But I wonder… what was it that killed off the ancients? Was it that blue hedgehog that became as the sun, and as the rainbow?"

"_I do not know. Possibly it was. There are none left who can tell of it._"

"Interesting… but if you understand WHY I want to Bind the Chaos Spirits, why do you still want to fight me?"

"_Because I want to find out if you are WORTHY to Bind us, Wizard. But first… why are you Binding us?_"

"To stop the planet from ending."

"_No, no… perhaps I phrased that wrong. Why are YOU, Kun'nuk'kles, Binding us, as opposed to another?_"

"Because I'm the best at what I do. I am the Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers, and I am the most powerful Wizard on Mobius. It falls to me, because no one else stands a chance of succeeding," Kun'nuk'kles explained.

"_Don't you think you're being a little arrogant?_"

"It's only arrogance if it's not true."

"_Aptly said. Well, shall we commence our fight, Kun'nuk'kles?_"

"But of course, Chaos Violet. Begin!"


	12. Four Over Seven

Kun'nuk'kles began to chant. "Ak'kun leoht! Geolokk anthegravim myrios! Floating platforms, to me!"

Many shafts of light pulsed from his staff and struck rocks on the ground, and solid rock faces. In the meantime, Chaos Violet was crackling with small violet sparks, crawling all over its orb-like body. An arc of electricity leapt from it toward Kun'nuk'kles, who jumped out of the way, off of his platform… and landed on one of dozens of platforms that were quickly rising through the clouds. "Ak'kun leoht! Hydraquis pugilim! Aqua daggers!"

Light once again pulsed from his staff, and little blades, made of water, appeared in midair, and sped toward Chaos Violet. They never reached it. As each approached, Chaos Violet lashed out with a small bolt of lightning, vaporizing each of them nearly instantly. "All right…" Kun'nuk'kles murmured. "New plan…"

Again, Chaos Violet lashed out at Kun'nuk'kles with an arc of electricity, and again, Kun'nuk'kles jumped onto another platform to evade it. But this time, the platform that he had been standing on, that had been struck with the bolt, crumbled and fell to the ground. It was at this moment that Kun'nuk'kles realized that he was in some serious trouble. Chaos Violet was Strategy. He couldn't just beat it by attacking with random spells. He needed a strategy, as good or better than Chaos Violet's.

Then, he had an idea. "Ak'kun leoht! Umbrac'tol noctilim! Obscurity!" he chanted, and another pulse of light came from his staff as he leapt to evade another of Chaos Violet's bolts.

An instant later, the air was filled with a dark cloud, but not one that could be breathed in. This was simply a cloud of dark shadows. But although Chaos Violet could not see Kun'nuk'kles, Kun'nuk'kles knew exactly where Chaos Violet was. The crackle of static across its skin was a dead giveaway as to its location. A larger crackling… it was preparing another strike. But the sound was… subtly different. Some animal instinct, long forgotten, told him to duck. And so he did. As he did, an intense heat passed over him, from left to right, singeing the sack slightly.

The cunning Spirit had used a horizontal attack, like a blade of electricity? Was that possible? Well, possible or not, it had just happened. "Ak'kun leoht," he whispered. "To'ku'ri nebiltim nulliqui. Vacuum cutters!"

A pulse of light from the staff, and a shout of indignation from Chaos Violet. Kun'nuk'kles leapt to the next platform, plus two more. So… it had worked. A sudden rush of air away from Chaos Violet in a thin line could cut it, because it was flesh. Physical attacks wouldn't work, because of its static field. But this was about as non-physical as it was possible to get. He raised his staff and chanted, "Ak'kun leoht! Umbrac'tol nulliqui! Null shadows!"

The shadows abruptly vanished, and Kun'nuk'kles leapt aside as the expected bolt headed for him. That spell… it gave him an idea! As he kept jumping, and Chaos Violet kept firing, he chanted, "Ak'kun leoht! To'ku'ri nebiltim nulliqui decantu! Vacuum cutters, times ten!"

Another pulse of light from the staff, and small red lines started to appear all over Chaos Violet's host body. And Kun'nuk'kles kept on running from platform to platform, the bolts now being too weak to destroy them. "Ak'kun leoht! Diuctra enchank'kili! Ectri'it nulliqui! Hydraquis pugilim! Double cast! Null thunder, water daggers!"

The staff pulsed, and a shaft of light struck Chaos Violet. The sparks crawling across its skin abruptly stopped, as the staff pulsed again. Dozens of blades, made of water, appeared, and sped toward a Chaos Violet currently deprived of its defenses. The daggers struck all at once, with terrible force. Chaos Violet shuddered, and fell, splattering its body on the rocks far below. But from the depths, there rose a stream of bright, violet mist, swirling up to him. "_You have done well, to penetrate my defenses. You are, apparently, worthy to Bind the Chaos Spirits to our former prisons. But you should know; the price to be paid for the eighth Emerald, the last Emerald, will be high, and painful. Not only for you, but for the ones who love you. Cast now thy spell of Binding, Wizard, and finish what you came to do,_" the Chaos Spirit said.

"Very well…" Kun'nuk'kles murmured. "Ak'kun leoht! Ned-le ky'lyu! Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye! Imprison!"

The staff pulsed, and the violet mist started streaming into his hand, slowly coalescing and gaining weight. When it was finished, a new Emerald was in his open hand, glowing softly. He smiled, and put it in the sack with the other three. Four down, three to go…


	13. Chipmunks in the Desert

Getting down the mountain was fairly easy. He just stowed his staff in the sack tied around his neck, and used the membranes at his sides to glide down in a tight circle. As luck would have it, as soon as he landed, part of the mountain broke off, causing a small rockslide. While small, this rockslide could still seriously hurt… so he ran to one side. When the rocks stopped falling, he looked up at where the rock had been. Why had it fallen? There was… something… hidden in the crevices revealed by the rockslide. What was it? He decided to climb up, just to see.

As he climbed, he noticed that the rock here was a different color than the mountain… the mountain was a sort of reddish-brown color, while this was gray. And it was in blocks. Another Ancient ruin? Perhaps… he would have to see what was hidden there.

When he reached it, he blinked. It was a metal box, with one side made out of glass. The image of a stylized flame was flickering there, apparently supposed to be some sort of guide as to what was inside. There weren't any latches, no visible seams to the box… so the only way to get inside would to be to break the glass. This was something he had no problem with. After clearing the shards of broken glass out of the opening, Kun'nuk'kles took the thing that was inside. It was… a sort of disc-thing, with an image of flame on it. He knew what this was… he just couldn't quite remember where he had seen something like it before. He put it in the sack with the Chaos Emeralds, and jumped the ten feet to the ground.

Now… next was Chaos Red. It apparently inhabited some sort of magma-dweller in the heart of a large volcano to the west. Kun'nuk'kles turned to the west, and did not like what he saw. It was a bleak wasteland on this side of the mountains. Nothing but devastation, as far as the eye could see… except… in the distance, there was something… moving. Well, that was as good a place as ever to go to at the moment.

He started walking at a measured pace toward whatever was out there. Soon, he was close enough to see what it was. It was a reptilian beast, much like the host of Chaos Green, being attacked by a group of Chipmunks. As he came closer, however, Kun'nuk'kles saw the Chipmunk child in one of the beast's great-clawed hands. He started moving slightly faster, and took his staff from the sack where he had stowed it. He didn't want to interfere if it wasn't needed, or if it wasn't wanted. He had been made wary by the experience with Uroth. Sometimes, people needed to do things for themselves.

When he was a mere ten yards away, one of the Chipmunks was struck with the beast's free hand, and was thrown toward Kun'nuk'kles, landing just two feet short. Kun'nuk'kles took a step forward, and looked down at him. The Chipmunk's eyes were closed. "Need some help, stranger?" he asked.

The Chipmunk's eyes snapped open, and he stared at Kun'nuk'kles's gentle face. "Echidna!" he said, in a quietly smooth voice. "You must go! The foolish boy wandered from camp, now in danger! Echidna might get killed, you try to fight dragon now has boy. Save self. Not sacrifice any more for us, will we…"

He stood up, and ran back to the crowd attacking the beast. Kun'nuk'kles blinked. That had been strange. An interesting accent, if not grammar. Well, it looked like they would appreciate help, if it didn't cost any lives. Rather unlikely that it would. But he couldn't use any widely destructive spells, like fireballs, nor would lightning do. He raised his staff, and began his chant. "Ak'kun leoht! Hydraquis nulliquis in-leternum! Dehydrate!" he shouted, and a shaft of light from the staff struck the beast.

The beast abruptly stiffened up, and cried out in pain. Water vapor started flowing out from between its scales, and vanished. The beast shriveled up, dead, and fell over backwards. But the Wizard wasn't finished. "Ak'kun leoht! Hydraquis nulliquis in-leternum, ivnerto! Reverse spell!"

The water vapor returned to the beast when the light struck it, and it swelled to its former proportions, but still quite dead. The group of Chipmunks lowered their weapons in wonderment, and looked at Kun'nuk'kles. One of them, however, ran over to the beast and extricated the boy. The rest started murmuring darkly among themselves and pointing at him. And then, they started toward him, weapons raised. "Hold!" commanded the voice of the one who had fallen at Kun'nuk'kles's feet, and who had freed the boy.

The group stopped, and looked back at him. He ignored them and started toward Kun'nuk'kles. When he was about a yard away, he spoke again. "I warn you not to fight when you wake me. You are stranger to our ways, and to our lands. You show you have much, powerful magic at your command. Above all, you Echidna, and we Chipmunk. You have no reason to help. You have many reason not to help. Why then, do you help?"

Kun'nuk'kles looked the Chipmunk right in the eyes. This one had sandy brown fur, with darker stripes around his face. "Because if I hadn't helped," he said flatly. "I wouldn't be me."

This was met with a general murmur of approval. The Chipmunk smiled broadly. "A good answer! Come, share our fire and our food," he said, and started walking away.

"Aren't you going to take that," Kun'nuk'kles said, jabbing his thumb at the dead reptile. "With you?"

The rest of the group started walking along with their leader, who shook his head. "Too heavy. You want bring it, you carry it."

"Fair enough…" Kun'nuk'kles said, and thought about the green Chaos Emerald.

He certainly hoped it was going to help him. He went over to the reptile's tail, put his staff in the sack, and got a good grip on it. He started to pull. To his amazement, it came along easily, sliding across the sand, leaving a deep furrow. The Chipmunks didn't even look back to see what the dragging noise was, they just kept walking.

Soon after that, the Chipmunk camp came into sight. It was more of a small village, set up around a pool of water. This was apparently a natural desert, caused by the rain shed of the mountains, and not a result of the Chaos, as he had feared. A Chipmunk female came out of one of the tents, squealed at the sight of them, and ran, in the desert heat, toward the child. While she was hugging him, and he was protesting, she looked past him to Kun'nuk'kles. "Husband?" she asked.

"Yes?" the Chipmunk in the lead replied.

"Why Echidna dragging Rock Dragon following you?"

The Chipmunk looked behind, and grunted in surprise. "He kill it. He want to take it, we don't carry it, it too heavy. Tell him if he want it, he take it. Look like he did," he said, impressed.

"Welcome, Echidna stranger. This our camp. You welcome here, from now on. I leader, Klinok. What your name?" the lead Chipmunk said as he turned all the way to face Kun'nuk'kles.

"I am called Kun'nuk'kles," he replied. "Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers."

"You from Island of Angels?" the boy asked, wide-eyed.

"Angel? What is an Angel?"

"It what we call messengers from gods," Klinok replied.

"Oh, I see. A dialect term. It would also make the name of my home a lot easier to say, I must admit. Well, then, child, yes, I am from the Island of Angels."

The boy's eyes went even wider, and he hid behind the female, who was apparently his mother. "You named Kun'nuk'kles, then? That long name. I call you Kun," Klinok declared.

Kun'nuk'kles blinked. "All right…" he said. "This here's a Rock Dragon, is it? Could you do me a favor, and make something out of it for me? You can have the rest, but I need something from the body, as a trophy."

Klinok nodded, and waved one of the other Chipmunks toward him. "Al'mun, make Kun a…" he said to him, his voice going low so that Kun'nuk'kles could not hear. "Right. You make, he get, we get rest."

Al'mun nodded, and turned to Kun'nuk'kles. "I Al'mun. I make thing from Rock Dragon, you get. We keep rest. You get what I make tonight."

Kun'nuk'kles nodded, and Klinok slapped him on the back heartily. "Very good!" he said as Kun'nuk'kles bent under his friendly blow; apparently the Power of Chaos Green had left him. "Now, time for sleep."

"What?" Kun'nuk'kles said, disbelieving. "But it is barely midmorning!"

"You not know desert. Sleep in day, avoid heat. Hunt in nighttime. That way we live. Have good sleep. Tent for you by dragon," he said, and went into the tent that the woman had come out of earlier.

Kun'nuk'kles sighed, and looked up. It was, indeed, growing hotter. He settled on the sand, and planted his staff in front of him. "Ak'kun leoht. Meterok faunaeth malev'thi rutilim. Sanctuary," he chanted, and the staff pulsed.

A dome appeared above him, of a translucent material, or possibly light. The temperature within it cooled a bit, to his personal comfort level. He didn't like to use this spell, but there wasn't much choice. The desert heat would surely harm him, regardless of how much shade he got. He just didn't have the tolerance levels of the Chipmunks. But still, he didn't like this spell. It messed with local weather patterns, albeit minorly, and it was permanent, at least until he cast it again, somewhere else.

Well, he couldn't leave this place until he had whatever it was that he was going to get out of the Rock Dragon. The tenets of his faith dictated that he had to take something from any animal he killed. And he had to have a use for it. But this gave him the opportunity to examine the disc he had gained. He untied the sack from around his neck, and took out the disc with the flame on it. It shimmered in the odd light of the sanctuary he had cast. "Friend Kun, why you not sleep?" a voice behind him asked.

He turned around, but it was just Klinok. "Oh, I'm just thinking…" he said, but Klinok was ignoring him.

"Ah, I see. You have Barrier Artifact."

"A… wait! I remember where I've seen this sort of thing before! Thanks, Klinok!"

"Um… welcome," Klinok said, somewhat confused.

Kun'nuk'kles ignored him. He was busy focusing on the Barrier Artifact. It was a very useful little thing to have when confronting an enemy: any enemy, really. It would protect you from a single mortal blow, but then, it would leave you open to attack, and could only be used once. In that respect, it was nearly useless. But there was something different about this particular Barrier Artifact… it had that flame engraved on its surface.

Kun'nuk'kles turned back to Klinok, who was still watching him carefully. "You know about the technology of the Ancients, do you?"

Klinok shrugged a bit, and sort of nodded. "Good. What does this flame mean, here?"

He leaned over to inspect it. "Oh, that. That Symbol Flame. Mean Barrier Artifact a Flame Barrier," he explained.

"Flame Barrier?" Kun'nuk'kles asked. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, I explain. Long ago, Ancients make Barrier Artifacts. Artifacts scattered when Ancients died. Sometime, Artifacts appear at random, so there always some. Some few Artifacts exposed, much magic. Some change, become Elemental. Some become Water, protect drowning. Some Lightning, attract gold, other some kind metal. Others Flame, protect lava, fire. Like that, there. No heat get through Flame Barrier."

"Oh, I see. This is much more useful than most Barriers, then?"

"Yes. But Flame, Lightning, they no like water. Disappear if get wet."

"Hmm."

Hey, why haven't I seen any Barrier Artifacts, in our time? If they're randomly generated…

You're not Mobian. It's hard to see them if you aren't.

I see. I suppose that makes sense.

No, it doesn't.

Kun'nuk'kles ignored the watchers, again. They were speaking of things that didn't concern him in the least. But he was learning things that would be of interest to the archaeologists and students of his home. They wouldn't interest many OTHER people, but they'd interest THEM.

This line of thought turned him to thoughts of his wife. By the Tri-fold Spirit, he missed her. He wished he'd never had to leave Minsha, or his son, Shik'kai. He could almost smell her hair, touch her rounded…

And then, the grayness returned.

_What happened?_

_**A private moment. We should not intrude in such a thing.**_

_But he is dead. And YOU have all the memories._

_**Still, it is not good to intrude in the intimate thoughts and memories of others. Such things simply are not Done.**_

_But…_

_**ENOUGH! I am enough of him to decide which memories of his will be shown to you! You are seeing this only by MY blessing! Or have you forgotten?**_

_No. I had not forgotten. I apologize._

_**As well you should. Let us skip forward to the night, then. The next thing that concerns us occurs then.**_


	14. Too Much Lava

The grayness reformed into the scene they had been at earlier, except much darker. Kun'nuk'kles looked up at the Watchers again. "You're back? I thought you had left for good. I couldn't sense you at all."

_**We're back. In a sense, we never left. You are the one who went, instead.**_

"What do you mean?"

_**We are not where you are, if you haven't figured that out. But I already know you have. We are looking at Memories. I know what will happen, and another of us is in the Memories, and saw them from a different point of view. The third of us has an idea about what might happen, and knows the results, but does not know what happened. We are watching to teach him what he needs to know.**_

"I… see…"

It was then that Klinok came up behind him and spoke, "It ready, friend Kun."

Kun'nuk'kles looked at Klinok and smiled. "I thank you," he replied, standing, and putting his things back in the sack about his neck.

As he walked out of the dome of light, the Chipmunk, Al'mun, approached him. "Kun…" he said, grimly. "I have thing, made of Dragon you kill."

"Yes?"

"Yes. Here," the Chipmunk said, handing something wrapped in cloth to him.

Kun'nuk'kles unwrapped it. It was a belt, with a sheath attached to it, and in the sheath, there was a dagger. As Kun'nuk'kles slowly drew the curved dagger from its resting place, Al'mun explained. "The belt, made from scales and skin of Dragon, the sheath from the same. The dagger I made, carved from claw, from hand of Dragon. Always be sharp. Never break. That part of magic of Rock Dragon."

"Thank you…"

"You welcome. I sure you do same for me, if I ask same of you."

Kun'nuk'kles nodded, and put the belt on. It was not at all heavy. He then started walking across the desert. As the sand slid and crunched under his feet, he shivered. The night was quite chill, but nowhere near as chill as the mountaintop. It was bearable, even though he might not want to. He wouldn't have to use his magic to simply survive, here.

Magic wasn't something to be used to just make things easier. In fact, he SHOULDN'T have used most of the magic that he HAD used on this journey. He was sure that magic would, eventually, present its bill to him. And, inevitably, it would be more than he was willing to afford. That was part of the Laws of magic. The easier magic made something, the more it would cost in the end.

Kun'nuk'kles slid down another dune. The sky in the north was glowing red, and Kun'nuk'kles could faintly make out lines of red light spreading on one of the mountains. It was just about time, then. About an hour of walking later, the mountain was obviously a volcano, and the chill night air was warming. That meant that it was finally time to use it. He stopped walking and took the Barrier Artifact from his sack. He then threw it in the sand in front of him, and stomped down hard on it.

As the disc cracked, it vanished. But something else happened. A sphere of Flame surrounded Kun'nuk'kles's body, encompassing him and some of the sand. But the sand did not seem affected, at all. The Flames circled him, and he walked on. Two hours later, it was pitch black to the south, but the sky was glowing red above him. Clouds of ash were orbiting the volcano, and small rivulets of lava were flowing in and out of the volcano through small cracks.

Kun'nuk'kles went over to one of the rivulets, but still felt no heat. He reached over to the flowing rock, and still felt no heat. He stuck his hand in, and still, felt no heat. He pulled his hand out, and it was unscathed. Not even so much as a scorch mark. Tiny bits of hardening rock were clinging to his glove, and he flicked them off. Taking a deep breath, Kun'nuk'kles went on, searching for an opening he could use.

After fifteen more minutes of scouring the mountainside, he found a large cave entrance, where only the bottom was covered in lava. He waded through it. It was much like wading through deep mud, except with deep mud, you don't keep half expecting your legs to burst into flame. At least, not usually. Inside, it was a veritable maze of passages. Kun'nuk'kles simply kept going forward, wading through more lava, on the basis that Chaos Red was probably in the core of the volcano in any case.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was probably only about an hour, he emerged in a huge cavern. Looking up, he could see the ruddy sky; he had arrived. But Chaos Red was nowhere in sight. He took his staff from the sack tied around his neck, and at that very instant, a bulge appeared in the center of the room. The lava rose an inch or three temporarily, and then settled back down when Chaos Red had finally emerged.

It was hideous. It had a great claw, like a scorpion's, at the end of each of its forelimbs. Its hind limbs were insectoid, ending without ceremony, although scaled up to the sheer size. Its skin was covered by some sort of black plating, from which a red haze rose. It swung its head slowly to face Kun'nuk'kles, and snapped its mandibles. It then spoke, "_I see that you have come, Wizard, into the sanctuary of Chaos Red… you wish to Bind me to the form of the gemstone that I know from so long ago, I trust?_"

"That I have," Kun'nuk'kles acknowledged.

"_Well, then, know this, and then prepare to fight: I am Chaos Red; I am Stamina!_"

"Very well," he said, brandishing his staff. "Let's begin."


	15. WAY Too Much Lava

And then Kun'nuk'kles leapt out of the way of a large blob of magma headed straight for his head. The physical aspect of the lava was still there; just the heat had been nullified. If he got hit with just one of those attacks, the Barrier would vanish, and he would be standing about knee deep in magma with no protection. He kept going as fast as he could, hindered as he was. It was a good thing that Chaos Red was not very fast, or he would be in a lot of trouble. He started casting, "Ak'kun leoht! Cryosis silquisim! Icy mist!"

His staff pulsed, and something started to form in the air above the magma. The magma started to steam, and then harden with little glassy sounds. Kun'nuk'kles pulled himself out of the magma and onto the fast-forming crust before he got caught. But Chaos Red had other ideas. It screeched, and slammed its great claws down upon the fragile crust. It cracked, and pieces started to go under the glowing red liquid. Kun'nuk'kles struggled to keep his balance as the shockwave from the claws translated into a rather more literal wave of magma.

He started running from piece to piece, chanting, "Ak'kun leoht! Cryosis tolik'rish niteer'ra! Ice spreader!"

The staff pulsed once more as Kun'nuk'kles aimed the tip at Chaos Red. A shaft of light from the staff struck it, and it slowed. Ice started forming on the plates across its skin, and spread. Soon, it was encased in a chunk of clear ice. And then, cracks began to appear in the ice. It shattered, and chunks of ice flew into the magma, where it steamed and hardened. Chaos Red screeched, and blew flames at Kun'nuk'kles, who ignored them.

"Damn… damn… damn…" Kun'nuk'kles muttered under his breath as he ran.

Chaos Red took one of the pieces of hardened rock from the magma, and hurled it at him. "Ak'kun… leoht…" Kun'nuk'kles panted as he ran faster, getting out of the way barely in time. "Cryosis… meterok… to'ku'ri! Chill wind!"

The staff pulsed yet again, and the air gained a crisp quality. Chaos Red slowed down further as small ice crystals formed around its mouth and its breath became visible. So… Chaos Red slowed down in the cold… useful to know. But it still wasn't stopping it! He had yet to find a way to actually damage it in any way! Perhaps something with those plates… or between the plates. But his spells couldn't be aimed that precisely. Those damn plates… maybe he could get rid of them? They'd withstood his assault up to now, but even so, he had yet to use the most powerful ice spell he knew.

"Ak'kun leoht!" he shouted. "Cryosis detr'acti kel'vin-ci nothiti! Absolute Zero!"

His staff pulsed yet again, but this time, the beam of light sped toward the largest of the skin plates, on its chest. It growled in surprise as the plate shrunk, and then shattered as it was ripped off of its body. And it was wide open. "Ak'kun leoht! Cryosis pugilim decantu! Ice daggers, times ten!"

Hundreds of daggers of ice, mere slivers in comparison to Chaos Red, appeared in midair, and sped for the exposed muscle and nerves that the Absolute Zero had left. They all hit, all at the same time, and slammed it against the cavern wall. "Ak'kun leoht! Cryosis pugilim decantu! Ice daggers, times ten!" he repeated.

As Chaos Red struggled to get up, the daggers appeared again, and slammed into it, penetrating to its very heart. Not even Stamina itself could have survived the onslaught, and indeed, it didn't. Chaos Red fell to the cavern floor, now covered in hardened rock rather than molten magma. The red haze rose from it's skin, and Kun'nuk'kles started to chant, "Ak'kun leoht! Ned-le ky'lyu! Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye! Imprison!"

The staff pulsed, and the red haze started to swirl and condense at one spot on the floor. "_Well played, Wizard,_" Chaos Red said. "_You have bested my Stamina, but in doing so, you used a spell never meant for the world to bear. You just killed another little piece of the world._"

And then there was silence, and an Emerald on the floor. Kun'nuk'kles picked it up and looked at it. It seemed… angry, somehow. He put it in the sack, which was becoming heavier and heavier with everything he was putting into it. That was the nature of mass, however. The more of it you have in one place, the heavier it was. Now… the only problem was how to get out… the way he had come was now blocked with hardened rock.


	16. Inconvenient Rainfall

In fact, it looked like the only place that went anywhere was at the top, almost completely inaccessible. Inaccessible, that is, to anyone who did not have powerful and ancient magic at his or her disposal. "Ak'kun leoht," he chanted. "Anthegravim summi! Levitate!"

The staff pulsed with light, and Kun'nuk'kles felt himself being lifted up. Soon, he was out of the volcano, and at the edge of the crater. And then, it started to rain. Kun'nuk'kles felt the Barrier evaporate as soon as the first drop came into contact with it, and at the same time, became acutely aware that he was standing on top of a recently active volcano. So, he started to run. "Damn… damn… damn!" he muttered.

This was a lot more trouble than he had bargained for. More than a few minutes up here, and he'd be dead from toxic fumes and such. Unfortunately, the fastest way down a mountain isn't precisely the most comfortable. Kun'nuk'kles slipped and slid down the scree and rockslides, causing a few of his own in the pre-dawn light. As he got repeatedly mildly concussed, he noticed it was coming very early for this time of year. Such is the way of things

At least he wasn't falling back to the desert… but when he reached the bottom of the hill, his head slammed into a rock, and his eyes closed. A few moments later, something came over the nearby rocks. It examined Kun'nuk'kles, sighed, and started to drag the prone Echidna away. And the grayness returned.

_How did we see that just now?_

_**Hmm?**_

_I mean, Kun'nuk'kles was unconscious. How did we see him being dragged away, if these are his memories?_

_**These aren't just HIS memories. These memories are made of the short, miniscule memories of the organisms around him, and inside him, as he is going.**_

_You… have the memories of protists? How does that work?_

_**It is a painstaking process. You see, their lesser minds followed the trail of the greater mind when they died. And then, when I was created, they were sucked in with me. Sort of like an occult black hole.**_

_I… see…_

I really don't think you do. But in any case, we'll skip ahead to when he awakens… 


	17. A Hedgehog From Nowhere

Kun'nuk'kles awoke with a splitting headache. That was all, for a little while. He couldn't see anything. Then, slowly, vision returned. He saw, directly in front of him, some wood. Above him. It was above him, because he was laying down. It would be a… ceiling. He blinked. Outside there were the sounds of the jungle, among other things. "Thou art awakenéd?" a voice from the side came.

Kun'nuk'kles took note of the accent and archaism, and tried to look at whoever was talking. He couldn't. His neck was too stiff. The owner of the voice seemed to recognize what he was trying to do, and came into his sight. Kun'nuk'kles blinked again. It was a creature he had never seen before, outside of a museum. It was much like an Echidna, but spikier, and, for some reason, gray. It was a Hedgehog.

"Yes, I see that thou hast noticed my species," the Hedgehog said. "I am called Sonya."

Kun'nuk'kles blinked again. "You…" he managed, croaking. "Are female?"

Sonya chuckled. "Indeed I am. And thou art male. Shall we progress beyond the obvious observations, to the reasons for thy presence?"

"I… don't know why I'm here. Last I remember, I was sliding down the side of a mountain…" Kun'nuk'kles said, and stopped. "Wait. Where are my things? Where are my staff and the Emeralds?"

"Thy possessions art here, and unharmed. On the subject of thy Emeralds… where didst thou acquire them? They art most similar to artifacts mentioned in a story of my Ancestors."

"I… they're mine. I made them."

Sonya raised an eyebrow. "Thou MADE them? How didst thou accomplish this task, perchance?"

"I… say, could you please stop it with the archaic speech? It's driving me nuts."

"Very well. But please tell me how you made them. I really need to know."

"I Bound the Chaos Spirits to the Ordered form of Beryl. So far, I have managed to get five of them into this crystalline form… although I'm told that I am not the first."

"You… are resurrecting the Old Bindings?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To keep Mobius alive."

"What?"

"The Chaos Spirits… are causing the planet to die, slowly. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I need to do this…"

"Then… you will need my help. You will need the Chaos Oath."

"The Chaos Oath? I've seen it written in the Sanctuary."

"Oh, yes. I had forgotten. You are Echidna. Well, you don't know the final translation."

"What? Final translation? What are you talking about? It translates to, 'The Chaos, Seven in number, Serve, for the Heart of Chaos is Power. To Control the Power, the Chaos must be United.'"

Sonya shook her head. "That's not quite it. That's a slightly skewed translation. The Chaos Oath is as follows; 'The Servers are the Seven Chaos. Chaos is Power, enriched by the Heart. The Controller is the one that Unifies the Chaos.'"

As she spoke, Kun'nuk'kles shivered. "I FELT that. That is a spell, and a powerful one. But, as it is, it has no focus. It has power, but that's it. It doesn't DO anything."

Sonya nodded. "True. But that is what is left to us. Our Ancestors left nothing else to us. We have lost the tale of their demise… we do not even know how to use their Barriers."

"Oh? You step on them."

"What?"

"In order to use the Barrier Artifact discs, you step on them, breaking them in half. The halves will vanish, and the Barrier will surround the one who activated it. How do you think I survived inside of the volcano to Bind Chaos Red?"

"You went into the volcano? That would explain why it stopped smoking…"

Kun'nuk'kles sat up, painfully, and rubbed at the back of his head. "How long have I been here, anyway?"

"Not long. A day or two."

"WHAT! I… thank you for your hospitality, but I've REALLY got to go."

"I will go with you," Sonya said, handing him his sack and staff.

Both of them were miraculously unharmed. Kun'nuk'kles didn't bother to argue. He knew about this kind of female. His WIFE was this kind of female. Regardless of danger, once they make up their minds, they stick to their decisions. That was why he had left so abruptly. He re-tied the sack to his neck, and got up. He hurt, but it was nothing that he couldn't ignore. He went out of the door of the crude hut, and was faced with an impressive sight.


	18. Finding Skill

It was a rocky canyon, all spires and crevasses. The yellowish stone glowed in the morning light, as the spires stood proud like an endless forest of stone. Behind him, the sounds of the jungle were prevalent, but in front, thee was naught but the whistling of wind through the canyon, the roar of the river far below, and the occasional scurrying of a lizard across the rocks. It was the canyon that Chaos Yellow resided in… an almost impossible stroke of fortune for the Echidna. "This is it…" Kun'nuk'kles said, as he stared.

"This is what?"

"The place where Chaos Yellow is hiding. It's in this canyon, somewhere…"

"So, what are you waiting for? Let's go find it."

Kun'nuk'kles looked at the canyon. It was very deep, and would be practically impossible to climb up the walls without exhausting himself almost immediately. So… magic it was, then. He raised his staff, and chanted, "Ak'kun leoht! To'ku'ri geolokk tralsimi! Air path! To Chaos Yellow!"

The staff's crystal pulsed with light, and something in the air ahead stopped. Kun'nuk'kles tapped it with the staff. It was like rock. He took a step out, and it supported his weight. "Come on…" he muttered, moving on.

Footsteps behind his told him that Sonya was following. After about a half hour, the path led to the opposite edge of the canyon, where a plateau made a barren plain. As soon as Kun'nuk'kles and Sonya stepped off, the path disappeared, becoming like air again. In the center of the plateau, a hulking figure was waiting. "Wait here," Kun'nuk'kles told her, and walked to the figure.

"_You're late…_" it growled in a gravelly voice as Kun'nuk'kles approached.

It was something… it had two arms and two legs, but it looked as if it were made out of a number of stones, all separate from each other, but held together with yellow light. "_You should have been here a day and a half ago,_" it continued.

"I was unconscious. I suffered from multiple hits to the head when I fell down the side of the volcano in my hurry to get away from the deadly gasses."

It looked at him with eyes that glowed yellow. "_That is no excuse for tardiness. You are here to Bind me, I know… and so, we will fight. I am Chaos Yellow, and I am Skill!_"


	19. Broken Magic

The thing took a swing at Kun'nuk'kles, who leapt back in surprise. This didn't help, because Chaos Yellow's arm extended to reach him. He flew twenty feet from where he had been hit, and skidded to a halt as he landed on his feet. He tried to see through the haze of pain. It felt like he had broken some ribs… he wouldn't survive another hit. But that… THING… had expanded, somehow. It was made up of separate pieces that operated independently, apparently. He raised the staff, and chanted, somewhat breathlessly, "Ak'kun leoht! Pyrosis pugilim unit'ri! Heat blade!"

A sort of light and smoke appeared in the air as the staff pulsed. It was a blade-shaped emanation of heat, burning the very air. The light moved and sliced into Chaos Yellow's rocky torso. Where the blade touched, it vaporized the rock. It was effectively sliced in half. But then, the yellow light filled where the rock had been. It was ignoring being cut in half… so his only hope was to attack with everything he had, and try to come up with an idea in the meantime. "Ak'kun leoht! Gravim torquin'effaci! Gravity punisher! Ak'kun leoht! To'ku'ri nebiltim nulliqui! Vacuum cutters! Ak'kun leoht! Ectri'it pi'chin! Ball lightning!" he chanted desperately.

First, some sort of orb of… something encircled the advancing thing, and ripped the stone apart piece by piece. As soon as the orb vanished, it reformed into itself, with more yellow light showing. Then, some of the stones split in half as the vacuum cutters did their work. Some were cut very small, and fell away from the main body, leaving more yellow light. Finally, three balls of glowing light, sparking and sizzling, appeared and struck it. More of the rocks were destroyed, pulverized. But this didn't seem to have any affect on it! Maybe he would have to use that spell again… "Ak'kun leoht! Cryosis detr'acti, kel'vin-ci nothiti! Absolute Zero!"

The staff pulsed, and a shaft of light flew out to meet the advancing Chaos Yellow. It struck part of it that was yellow light and… passed through. It shot off over the horizon, into the sky. Kun'nuk'kles blinked, and then smiled. He'd been going about this all wrong, the entire time! It was then that Chaos Yellow took another swing at him. This time, he was able to avoid it… but his staff was not so lucky. The shaft snapped in half and the crystal shattered. The largest piece went skittering toward the edge of the plateau.

Kun'nuk'kles's eyes went wide, and he discarded the rest of the staff to dive for the piece. He needed the crystal to cast most of his spells… if he lost it… there wouldn't be a chance for Mobius. It went over… and he barely had it. He rolled back onto the plateau to find Chaos Yellow standing over him. It raised one of its huge arms and prepared to mash the Wizard to a pulp… and then paused. Finally, it said, "_I have to ask… do you have any last words?_"

"As a matter of fact…" Kun'nuk'kles said with a straight face. "Ak'kun leoht! Ned-le ky'lyu! Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye! Imprison!"

The shard of crystal in his hand flashed with a brilliant light, and shattered. As the light flashed, Chaos Yellow shuddered, and started to fall apart. Kun'nuk'kles rolled out of the way as Chaos Yellow's cohesion failed. The yellow light became a sort of mist, which swirled and spiraled into one spot on the plateau. "_You saw through my bluff… impressive. But you are drawing ever closer to the time when you must give up your way of life. Most of your magic is gone with your staff, and there is still one last spell to cast. You can't do anything more,_" the voice of Chaos Yellow came, and then, there was an Emerald.


	20. Hopeless Answers

Kun'nuk'kles picked it up, put it in the sack, and then looked around. The plateau was barren, aside from Sonya. There were no more shards of his crystal remaining. He was truly hopeless now. But there was no turning back. He would fight Chaos Cyan, wherever it was, and he would win, too. But what would happen afterward would be a problem. Sonya walked up to him, and asked, "How did you do that? According to my Ancestors, you must first kill the host that the Chaos Spirit possesses in order to Bind it! And then, it takes thirteen spells, in quick succession, to actually DO the Binding. Not only did you NOT kill it, you did Bound in one spell!"

"Simple enough answer…" Kun'nuk'kles murmured. "It wasn't possessing a living creature. The Chaos Spirits are just that; Spirits. They can move things, but not much. In order to possess a living creature, they simply have to move very small items. Possessing an inanimate object is infinitely harder. They would have to move the whole object or series of objects on their own. But Chaos Yellow had the Skill to do it. That's why my attacks weren't hurting it. But I only realized it when Absolute Zero passed through."

"I… see. But what about the spells? Why did that shard of crystal break when you cast with it? And why do you say 'Ak'kun leoht' at the beginning of every spell?"

"Oh, the spells? I don't need thirteen spells. I just need one. That's how good I am. But, seriously, I just studied the Thirteen Spells of Chaos Binding, and came up with a common factor. The shard broke when I cast because I didn't have a stabilizing agent, which would normally be a length of wood. Why else would I carry around that damn silly staff? If I didn't need it, I would only have had the crystal. And 'Ak'kun leoht' is an Invocation. It translates, roughly, into 'By Power and By Light'. Does that answer all of your questions?"

"Almost."

"Well? What else is bothering you?"

"If you can't cast spells anymore, how are we going to get down from here?"

Kun'nuk'kles blinked. "That's a good question…" he said slowly.


	21. Travel Boredom

Then he looked up. "Help?"

_**Sigh. It's not sheer on every side. There's a kind of natural stairway in the face not facing the canyon. **_

"Thank you," he said, and turned to Sonya. "That way."

As they started down the stairway, Sonya was looking at Kun'nuk'kles speculatively. Finally, she asked, "Who were you talking to just now?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm not actually sure. But they've been helpful, if somewhat rude."

"And they told you how do get down from here?"

"Yeah. But they haven't really told me anything of consequence. Mostly they've confirmed my suspicions, or pointed me in another direction."

"So they are watchers?"

"Watchers. Capital 'W'."

"I see… hey, where exactly are we going?"

"The Sanctuary, which is near the seashore. Um. How far from the coast are we?"

"Oh, only about forty-five miles. Why?"

"This could take a while, then."

"Not really. If we go down to where the canyon isn't so deep, we can ride it to the shore."

"Oh! That makes sense… and I do believe we are on the correct side of the mountains, too."

Both of them went down and started toward the canyon's source. And then, the grayness returned.

_Hmm? Why is this back?_

_**Because there is nothing to see. The next few hours are merely traveling. Now is the time for you to ask questions about what you have seen and heard here.**_

_Well… there is something… about the Chaos Oath._

_**Yes?**_

_Back when I was facing the Eggman… and I died… I heard the Chaos Oath calling me, and when I replied, something happened and I regained my grip on life. What exactly does that mean?_

_**You heard the Chaos Oath at your death? How exactly did you reply to it?**_

_I think it was… 'Help me live… Help me love… Chaos Spirits… Help me… Please.'_

_**Intriguing. Those were powerful words. But I'm sorry to say that I do not know what that means. I'm not even sure WHY you heard it. Where would it have come from? I know you heard it when you found me, but…**_

_Ah, well. I was just curious. When will we begin viewing again?_

_**About half an hour before they reach Sanctuary.**_

_Very well._


	22. The God of Metal

The grayness reformed into a beach scene, with Kun'nuk'kles and Sonya trekking toward the distant Sanctuary. Kun'nuk'kles glanced up at the Watchers, and sighed. "They're back," he told Sonya.

"The Watchers?"

"Yes. Apparently they skip over the boring parts."

"That's a bit… cold, isn't it?"

"As far as I can tell, only two of the three actually have emotions. And one of those two isn't very good at it."

"How is it that YOU can perceive them, and I cannot?"

"There is very little that I cannot perceive. Wizardry consists of perception and manipulation, respectively. I am VERY good at both."

They walked on in silence for a few moments. "You have a family, don't you?" Sonya asked.

Another pause. "Yes, I do. My wife and one child."

"Son or daughter?"

"Son. He's named Shik'kai."

"And your wife? What's her name?"

"Minsha. She has brilliant blue eyes…"

"That's nice."

They walked on in silence for perhaps ten minutes, and then came to the entrance of the Sanctuary. "Here it is…" Kun'nuk'kles said. "The Ancient Sanctuary."

"It's… impressive…" Sonya replied, looking up… and up… and up.

"Come on," he said, starting in, with Sonya close behind.

They both stopped to look at the mosaic of the Hedgehog fighting the God. "It's a very odd picture. No one's been able to interpret it yet."

Sonya seemed entranced by the picture. "The Hedgehog with the Speed of Blue shall take on the appearance of the Sun, when the Spirits are United in his possession. But when the God of Metal appears to steal the power away, it shall become focused more. And he shall become as the Rainbow, to fight the God of Metal above the Sky."

"Really? It says all of that? I wonder what it means…"

"_I don't think you'll live to find out,_" came the voice of Chaos Cyan.


	23. The Host of Chaos Cyan

Kun'nuk'kles whirled around, looking for the Chaos Spirit. "Where are you?" he demanded of the room.

"_Right behind you,_" the voice said.

Kun'nuk'kles turned around slowly, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Behind him was Sonya, but different. Her eyes had become pools of cyan, and the same color was rising in a sort of misty light off of her fur. "You… you've taken Sonya as a host, haven't you?" he demanded.

"_Astute observation, Wizard,_" she said.

It was horrible. It was Sonya's mouth and face forming the words, but the voice was Chaos Cyan's. "What… how long have you been in her?"

"_From the time you both entered this place,_" Chaos Cyan said, lifting one of Sonya's hands and looking at it through her eyes. "_I would have taken you when you were here before, but I found that I couldn't. So nice of you to bring me such a perfect host body._"

"How… how COULD you? You really ARE emotionless, aren't you? Cold and calculating, doing things only to benefit yourself!"

"_Yes… this form is perfect. In order to Bind me, you'll have to kill her… but you don't have your magic anymore, do you? Can you kill her, for the sake of the world? Will your faith LET you? Let's find out, shall we?_"

Kun'nuk'kles's hand went to the knife on his belt. He drew it slowly, his face contorting in rage. He slowly pointed the tip at Chaos Cyan. "She was my friend. She saved me when she could have just let me die. She taught me the true form of the Chaos Oath. And now, you're forcing me to kill her, for the sake of the world… you will suffer for this. As all Seven Chaos Spirits and the Tri-fold Spirit are my witnesses… you will suffer."

With that, he stood in a slightly different stance, relaxed, yet ready. And then he charged. Chaos Cyan wasn't too surprised and easily dodged the attack. And then, Kun'nuk'kles tripped on a crack in the stones where it was uneven. He fell, and the knife skittered across the floor. "_Oops. Looks like I forgot to mention… I am Chaos Cyan. I am Luck,_" it taunted.


	24. To Invoke the Enemy

Kun'nuk'kles got up and whirled to face Chaos Cyan. He clenched his hands into tight fists, and ran at it again. This time, Chaos Cyan was hit… in the shoulder, instead of in the head where he had been aiming. Chaos Cyan used the force to spin on one foot and deliver a blow to the back of Kun'nuk'kles head, where he was still sore. As he fell forward, reason finally penetrated the haze of rage that had overcome him. He couldn't just hit it. Circumstance would make sure that any blow he landed wouldn't seriously endanger the Spirit.

That was what gave him the idea. His magic was Invocation. Perhaps… he could Invoke something else… there was nothing to do but try. He struggled to his feet, and glared at Chaos Cyan. He had no Focus for his spells, but maybe, just maybe, his Rage would do. He raised one hand, and said, "Chaos! Before Light and Power, I Invoke you! Chaos Yellow! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Skill!"

The world Shifted. Everything changed, from that moment. A yellow mist formed in Kun'nuk'kles's hand, and settled inside him. He could FEEL the Power radiating throughout his body. "_No!_" shouted Chaos Cyan.

Just then, the bag around his neck slipped free, falling to the ground. Kun'nuk'kles ignored this, and continued. "Chaos Red! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Stamina!"

A red mist appeared around his left arm, and was absorbed. Chaos Cyan ran over to him and started pounding on him as hard as the Host body permitted. Kun'nuk'kles grunted, and slid back on a patch of slick stone that he had happened to be standing upon. But the Stamina of Red was too great, and overcame the Luck as he managed to stay standing. "Chaos Violet! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Strategy!"

Violet mist settled onto his head. Chaos Cyan fell back, and started glaring at him harshly. A hole in the ceiling crumbled open, and a shaft of sunlight struck Kun'nuk'kles squarely in the eyes. He clenched his eyes shut, and continued. "Chaos White! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Agility!"

White mist spiraled into his chest. Chaos Cyan took advantage of its opponent's closed eyes, and charged. Kun'nuk'kles heard the footsteps, and stepped aside. But Chaos Cyan still managed to catch the edge of his shoulder on Kun'nuk'kles's left arm, making him stagger and trip on the uneven stones. But the Agility of White enabled him to stay on his feet, and now that the sun was no longer in his eyes, he opened them again, and continued. "Chaos Blue! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Speed!"

Blue mist appeared around his shoulders. Chaos Cyan whirled around and glanced around desperately for something to help. "Chaos Green! I Invoke thy Power! The Power of Strength!"

And a green mist spiraled into his right arm. He lowered his arm, and looked at Chaos Cyan. Sonya's face was showing an expression of hatred. "_You dare call upon my sibling Spirits to help you against me? Die!_"

Chaos Cyan charged at Kun'nuk'kles again, this time cyan mist swirling around its body. Kun'nuk'kles sidestepped this, and tripped over a large rock. But instead of falling, he did a backflip, and landed on his feet. "Enough Skill will eventually overcome Luck, Cyan," he growled.

And then he charged Cyan, his fists blurring with Speed and Strength. The barrage was terrible… Chaos Cyan fell to the ground, on its back. "_You… can't kill me…_" it panted. "_You can't kill her…_"

"I can kill her," Kun'nuk'kles said, picking up the bone knife. "And do you know WHY I can kill her? It's because YOU are controlling her. I haven't known her long… but I've known her long enough. I know she would rather die than be controlled!"

And he plunged the knife into Sonya's heart. Her eyes flashed gratitude for a moment, and then, she died. The cyan mist rose from her body, and took on a hominid form. "_You have killed my host,_" it said. "_But to what avail? You don't have the Magic to Bind me, even though you have the Powers of the other Chaos Spirits. You have LOST!_"

Kun'nuk'kles felt the Powers drain from his body, and return to the Emeralds. He looked down at the body of Sonya, and he smiled grimly. "I have lost my magic," he agreed. "I have lost a companion. I have even lost my self-respect. But I haven't lost this fight. There is one last spell to cast. My Rage is my focus. My Loss keeps my Rage in check. Ak'kun leoht!"

As he spoke, the Chaos Emeralds freed themselves from the sack and settled on the pedestals. Kun'nuk'kles ignored them. "Ned-le ky'lyu! Chaos Spirit, Order be Imposed upon ye! Imprison!" he roared.

Cyan screamed, and started swirling and spiraling into a shape on the empty pedestal. Then, there was silence, and a single empty pedestal, which was surrounded by the Chaos Emeralds. It was finished. The Chaos Spirits were Bound, and the world was saved. He could go home. It was OVER.


	25. Forgiven

Then, there was an earthquake, a huge earthquake. There was the sound of reality ripping asunder. "What? What is happening? I BOUND the Chaos Spirits! Why is this happening?" Kun'nuk'kles demanded of the empty air.

"Mobius… is trying not… to exist…" Sonya said from the floor.

Kun'nuk'kles ran over to her as best he could with the earthquake. He felt the Sanctuary's towers separate from the rest of the Sanctuary, and start floating in the air. "I thought you were dead… I thought I had killed you…" he began, but was hushed by Sonya's hand.

"There is… no time… too much Chaos… has been let into the world… you need… to create… the Controller…"

"How? How can I do that?"

_**This is what we have come to see, Kun'nuk'kles. To create the Controller… you must Sacrifice yourself.**_

Kun'nuk'kles looked up. "What? Why? Who are you? How do you know this? How do you know ME? WHO ARE YOU?" he shouted.

_**That is not for you to know. Not now. Probably not ever.**_

"Is there no other way, then?"

"There isn't. There… never has been," Sonya explained. "Use the Chaos Oath. Use it now. Create the Controller. There is no Choice…"

Kun'nuk'kles closed his eyes, and shuddered. He pulled the knife from Sonya's chest with a gush of blood, and looked at it as she tried to cover the wound with her hand. And then he stood, and looked at the Chaos Emeralds. "May I be forgiven for what I now do…" he muttered.


	26. Sacrifice

"The Servers are… the Seven Chaos. Chaos Is Power, Enriched by the Heart. The Controller is the One that Unifies the Chaos. I, Kun'nuk'kles, Wizard of the Island of the Gods' Messengers, Before Power and Before Light, hereby lay down my Life, and my Soul, to Create the Controller. So it is Said, and so it shall Be!"

Kun'nuk'kles was covered in a green mist, like Chaos Green, but more so. His body was obscured in the misty light, and was lost. There was a burst of green light from within the cloud where Kun'nuk'kles had been. The mist abruptly swirled and contorted, spiraling to the last pillar, in the center of the Emeralds, leaving nothing but a bloodied knife floating in the air. It clattered to the ground as something coalesced on the last pillar. The last of the mists faded as they revealed one last Emerald, a green one, but much larger than the Chaos Emeralds. "**_You are MINE!_**" a new voice from this Emerald exulted, speaking to the Chaos Emeralds. "_**The Controller is the One that Unifies the Chaos, and I have done so. I am the Controller.**_"

Sonya crawled over to the pillar that held the eighth Emerald, and looked up, blood gushing from between her fingers and leaving a trail of blood on the ground. "The Servers… are… the Seven… Chaos… Chaos… is Power… Enriched… by the Heart… the Controller… is the One… that Unifies… the Chaos…" she murmured, collapsing as the earthquake began again. "I beg of you… Master Emerald… recall… the flow of Chaos… that has been released into the world… save the world… for the living…"

And then, she died. Soon after, however, the Master Emerald pulsed with light, as did the rest of the Emeralds, each according to their color. And then, flows of light swirled into the Master Emerald from every direction, shaking the very fabric of reality. The flows stopped. The Master Emerald pulsed, and seven beams of light, the colors of the Emeralds, shot out from it into each, according to their color. And then, it was done. The earthquake stopped. Mobius stopped trying not to exist. It was finished. Almost.

There was silence. Utter, utter silence. And then, there was the sound of birds. And the grayness returned.


	27. Completion

_That is it?_

_**That is it.**_

_That was the Sacrifice of Kun'nuk'kles?_

_**Indeed.**_

_But… he DIED!_

_**That is usually what happens in a sacrifice, I'm afraid.**_

_What kind of ending is THAT?_

_A true one._

_**You were warned of this at the beginning. Didn't you understand?**_

_Well… yes… but…_

_**But nothing. Do not lessen the deeds of those who died simply because they died. Do not impose your preconceptions of happy endings on reality. Things don't always turn out the way they do in fairy tales. There are few Happily Ever Afters for real people.**_

_All right, all right…so… what happens now?_

_**After a few centuries, a protector will appear, made from the small amount of Chaos released from the Emeralds. Appropriately, he is to be called Chaos. When the prophecy of Chaos Blue came to pass, and the Waters turned against the Echidnas, Tikal sealed him here, in the Fractured time, apart from everything else. All true Protectors of the Master Emerald share her fate, and Chaos's. This is the truth. And this is the Legacy of Kun'nuk'kles. A Legacy of Death to bring Life. One Death saved many lives. And from that point forward, when a True Hero dies for a cause, that cause succeeds.

* * *

**_

**This is the Legacy of Kun'nuk'kles, a Legacy that has helped countless stories have a happy ending, even though the Hero died. But now, the Legacy is known, and the story must continue. It is time for Certainty to resume its course.**


End file.
